from time to time established by the President under subsection (d) of section 3, of the Trading with the Enemy Act, for the censorship of communications by mail, cable, radio or other means of transmission passing between the United States and any foreign country from time to time specified by the President, or carried by any vessel, or other means of transportation touching at any port, place or territory of the United States and bound to or from any foreign country.

XVI. The said Censorship Board is hereby authorized to take all such measures as may be necessary or expedient to administer the powers hereby conferred.

XXII. I hereby vest in the Postmaster General the executive administration of all its provisions (except the penal provisions) of Section 19 of the Trading with the Enemy Act relating to the printing, publishing, or circulation in any foreign language of any news item, editorial, or other printed matter respecting the government of the United States, or of any nation engaged in the present war, its policies, international relations, the state or conduct of the war or any matter relating thereto, and the filing with the Postmaster at the place of publication, in the form of an affidavit of a true and complete translation of the entire article containing such matter proposed to be published in such print, newspaper or publication, and the issuance of permits for the printing, publication and distribution thereof free from said restriction. And the Postmaster General is authorized and empowered to issue such permits upon such terms and conditions as are not inconsistent with law and to refuse, withhold or revoke the

same.

It should be noted in connection with the above that the censoring of communications and the control of the press as thus provided for relate only to foreign communications and to the printing, publication, and distribution of matter in a foreign language. No provision was made for the censoring of internal communications, and the control over the press in the English language remained on the voluntary basis as administered by the Committee on Public Information, subject, however, to

the right of the Postmaster-General to refuse the right to the use of the mails to publications not complying with the provisions of the law. The scope of this right on the part of the Postmaster-General to exclude matter from the mails was clearly defined by the PostmasterGeneral in a letter to a correspondent, dated October 22, 1917, and published in the Official Bulletin of Oc tober 27, 1917:

MR. MILTON BRONNER, 1132 Munsey Building, Washington, D. C.

SIR:

October 22, 1917.

Referring to your verbal request for a statement for your use in advising certain publishers of the scope of the act of June 15, 1917 (espionage act), and the act of October 6, 1917 (trading-with-the-enemy act), so far as the said acts affect the Postal Service, and the interpretation placed upon them by this department, you are advised that under these acts it is unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, or association to mail, or to transport, or carry, or otherwise publish or distribute during the present war any printed or other matter

(1) Advocating or urging treason, insurrection, or forcible resistance to any law of the United States.

(2) Any matter conveying false reports or false statements intended to interfere with the operation or success of the military or naval forces of the United States, or to promote the success of its enemies.

(3) Any matter intended to cause insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty in the military or naval forces of the United States.

(4) Any matter intended to obstruct the recruiting or enlistment service of the United States, to the injury of the services of the United States.

(5) Any matter, the circulation or publication of which involves the violation of any of the numerous other criminal provisions of the espionage act, but which are not of special interest to publishers.

(6) Any matter printed in a foreign language containing

any news item, editorial, or other printed matter respecting the Government of the United States, or of any nation engaged in the present war, its policies, international relations, the state or conduct of war, or any matter relating thereto, unless the publisher or distributor thereof, on or before offering the same for mailing, or in any manner distributing it to the public, has filed with the postmaster at the place of publication, in the form of an affidavit, a true and complete translation of the entire article, containing such matter proposed to be published, and has caused to be printed on each copy thereof, in plain type in the English language, at the head of such item, editorial, or other matter, the words, "True translation filed with postmaster at (the name of the post office where the translation was filed, and the date of filing thereof), as required by section 19 of the act of October 6, 1917.”

on

(7) Any matter referred to in the preceding paragraph for which publishers have been granted a permit to circulate, free of restrictions named therein, but which does not bear at the head thereof in plain type in the English language the words: "Published and distributed under permit No. (here giving the number of the permit), authorized by the act of October 6, 1917, on file at the post office of giving the name of the office of publication)." By order of the President:

A. S. BURLESON,

(here

Postmaster General.

Al

The continuance of the censorship of foreign mails and cable and wireless communications after the signing of the armistice gave rise to widespread protests. though the censorship of cables by the United States was in time discontinued, the fact that foreign Governments still censor communications at the other end has prevented this means of communication from being freely used as in normal times. This situation will probably not be cleared up until the definite signing of the treaty of peace.

CHAPTER IV

THE MOBILIZATION OF FINANCE

Financial preparedness of the United States

Importance of the income-tax amendment and the Federal Reserve Act- Revenue legislation and the issue of securities Dual problen of the mobilization of capital-Necessary limitations on security issues-Capital Issues Committee created by the Federal Reserve Board-Its functions and operations Capital Issues Committee created by the War Finance Corporation Act-Its duties-Its powers determined by voluntary cooperation - Scope of its operations - Necessary financing of essential war enterprises- War Finance Corporation created Its composition and powers Its resources and operations Its post-war functions. War Credits Board of the War Department.

Whatever criticism may be directed against the United States for its failure to prepare itself for war cannot refer to the important department of finance. It is difficult to see in what respects more effective provision could have been made by the National Government for meeting the financial requirements of the great war. In the passage of the amendment to the Constitution of June 12, 1909, by which provision was made that Congress should have power to levy and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states and without regard to any census or enumeration, and the Federal Reserve Act of December 23, 1913, which completely reorganized our national banking system, the National Government took two steps towards military preparedness the importance of which it is impossible to exaggerate.

Chiefly through these two acts, both of which antedated the outbreak of the war by only a few years, the United States was able to meet all of the financial prob

lems presented by the "greatest" war of history with a minimum of interruption to the normal financial life of the community. Additional legislation had of course to be enacted. First of all, laws had to be passed to provide for the securing of the increased income required in order to meet war needs. These laws called for the increase of existing taxes, the imposition of new taxes, of which the most important was that on what was known as excess profits, and the sale of billions of dollars worth of bonds, certificates of indebtedness, war savings certificates, and war savings stamps. Although the provisions of the revenue laws were open to criticism, they accomplished their purpose of bringing into the treasury an enormous income. The policy of the Treasury Department in the floating of securities met with almost universal commendation. Especially did the system of sale of war saving certificates and stamps meet with a brilliant success. The prominent feature of the sale of all the securities and bonds, as well as of certificates and stamps, was the successful appeal that was made to the patriotism of the public for their purchase. It is undoubtedly true that the purchase of these securities involved a financial sacrifice on the part of most of their purchasers. Subscription to the various loans represented the desire on the part of each member of the entire community to do his bit in accordance with his abilities.

Interesting and important as was this phase of the war activities of the Government, it is one into which the present work cannot enter. There were, however, certain special problems of a financial character that

1 For a detailed discussion of the war finance of the United States see, in this series, Ernest L. Bogart, War Costs and Their Financing.